General Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122)

The Committee notes that, in the year since its previous session in November 2019, the world has experienced a global pandemic that has had profound, far-reaching health and socio-economic consequences. Efforts to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus through confinement measures have led to closures of businesses of all sizes across many economic sectors, with ensuing job losses for millions. In addition, educational and vocational training systems and institutions have been disrupted, forcing many to place their training and education on hold due to the pandemic. ILO Member States have sought to mitigate the impacts of the health and socio-economic crisis through immediate and longer-term response and recovery measures as the crisis continues to evolve.

The COVID-19 crisis threatens the survival of enterprises, jobs and incomes for workers, including self-employed workers, increasing poverty and exacerbating existing inequalities in access to employment and decent work. Moreover, the Committee observes that the pandemic has accelerated changes that were already occurring in the structure and organization of work due to globalization, digitalization and other technological innovations that have led to new and emerging working arrangements. Telework and digital platform work have increased exponentially as urgent measures to prevent the spread of the virus have meant that more workers are working at home and electronically where they are able to do so.

While the nature and extent of the impacts of the pandemic vary between regions and countries, as well as between and across economic sectors, access to full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work is essential for all workers, just as the ability to retain a skilled, qualified workforce is essential for employers to ensure the optimal functioning of their businesses.

In this context, the Committee wishes to draw attention to its 2020 General Survey on Promoting Employment and Decent Work in a Changing Landscape, which examined the application of Convention No. 122, together with an additional seven employment instruments.  ¹ It also refers to its Addendum, published after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the Committee examines the impact of the pandemic on the application of the instruments examined in the General Survey. The General Survey is already available on the NORMLEX website and the Addendum will be available once it is published in early 2021.

In addition, and taking into account the many dimensions of the current socio-economic and employment crisis, the Committee intends for this general observation to enhance awareness, understanding and use of the principles and guidance contained in Convention No. 122, as the overarching governance Convention dedicated to the promotion of full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work. Its intent is also to highlight the importance of a number of related employment instruments, primarily certain instruments not examined in the General Survey or Addendum, that the Committee nevertheless considers to be directly relevant to the design, development and effective implementation of sustainable economic recovery, employment and job creation measures.

The Committee observes that, taken together, these instruments offer extensive practical guidance that may assist ILO constituents in the development and effective implementation of comprehensive, sequenced, multi-track response and recovery measures. Such measures will support countries in responding to the current global crisis, ensuring an inclusive, sustainable recovery as well as increased resilience and preparedness to enable countries to face future crises that may arise.

Promoting full, productive and freely chosen employment, decent work and income-generation opportunities

Article 1. In its 2005 general observation on Convention No. 122, the Committee noted that the primary objective of Convention No. 122 as expressed in its Article 1(1) is the pursuit of “an active employment policy, which has as a major goal of macroeconomic policy, a focus on the design and implementation of an active employment policy. The achievement of full and productive employment should not be an afterthought, but should be considered throughout the macroeconomic policy formulation stage.”

The Committee wishes to draw particular attention in this context to the comprehensive guidance provided in the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205), in relation to the measures to be taken to generate employment and decent work in crisis situations, for purposes of, among other objectives, recovery and resilience (Paragraph 1). Recommendation No. 205 expressly provides that, in enabling recovery and building resilience, Members should adopt and implement a comprehensive and sustainable employment strategy to promote full, productive, freely chosen employment and decent work for both women and men, taking into account the provisions of Convention No. 122 (Recommendation No. 205, Paragraphs 7(a) and 10).

Article 2 calls on governments to keep under review, in the framework of a coordinated national economic and social policy, the measures taken to achieve the goals of the national employment policy.

The Committee notes in this regard that the impact of such measures should be assessed regularly so that they may be adjusted as needed to effectively tackle challenges through general as well as targeted measures. Moreover, in its comments over the years on the application of Convention No. 122, the Committee has emphasized the need to regularly examine and assess the evolving situation of the national labour market, inter alia, by collecting, compiling and disseminating information on employment trends, including the size and distribution of the economically active population, work, employment, unemployment, hours of work and labour underutilization, among others. Reliable labour market data is critical to ensure that labour policies are adequate, and that educational and training systems are adapted to anticipate and meet current and emerging skills needs. The latter has been a challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic, when virtually all countries saw their statistical sources disrupted. While the ILO actively supported emergency plans to keep the information flowing at the national level, it undertook an innovative global technique using now-casting methods to estimate the impact of the pandemic on the world of work, by estimating the loss of hours of work in all regions, and by ranking sectors of activities by risk. This dimension takes on crucial importance given that, due to the crisis, certain key economic sectors have been devastated, such as tourism, aviation and others, including global supply chains, or have been severely disrupted, in many cases leaving workers at the end of the chain with few options but to seek alternative employment as and where they can. On the other hand, certain sectors have experienced increased demand, such as health, emergency services, food and agriculture, and information technology. Moreover, the Committee observes that enterprises and workers in these sectors are often at the front lines of the pandemic, where ensuring occupational safety and respect for fundamental principles and rights at work and international labour standards must be ensured as integral components of crisis response.

Article 3 of Convention No. 122 calls on Member States to engage in consultations in relation to the development and implementation of active labour market measures. The Committee considers that inclusive, gender-responsive measures to promote sustainable employment and decent work, income-generation opportunities and job-rich growth should be planned, implemented and monitored in consultation and with the active participation of employers’ and workers’ organizations, and take into account the views of representatives of persons concerned by the measures to be taken. In this respect, Recommendation No. 205 highlights the importance of consultation and social dialogue, contemplating in addition consultation with civil society organizations, where appropriate (Paragraphs 8(d) and 11) (See also Part VII of Addendum to 2020 General Survey on Promoting Employment and Decent Work in a Changing Landscape).

The Committee notes that designing and implementing an effective response to the socio-economic aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis requires a multi-track approach that includes a range of sequenced policy measures, ranging from immediate urgent measures to intermediate and longer-term measures. It recalls that Recovering from the Crisis: A Global Jobs Pact (2009), adopted by the Conference in the context of the 2008 financial and economic crisis, called on ILO Member States to pursue a decent work response to the crisis, based on international labour standards, that ensures the link between social progress and economic development.

The Committee notes that the pandemic has highlighted the need to strengthen public health systems in most Member States. In this respect, it recalls the importance in the response to the pandemic of social policy instruments, such as the Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards) Convention, 1962 (No. 117), and the Social Policy (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 82), which seek to improve the standards of living and social progress of the peoples concerned and establish general principles calling on Member States to ensure that all such policies are primarily directed to the well-being and development of the population and the promotion of its desire for social progress. In its Preamble, Convention No. 117 affirms that economic development must serve as a basis for social progress, providing, inter alia, that all steps should be taken by appropriate international, regional and national measures to promote improvement in such fields as, inter alia, public health and social security (see also Article 4 of Convention No. 82). The Committee recalls that Convention No. 122 and the body of related employment instruments are closely linked to fundamental principles and rights at work and to both the fundamental and priority Conventions. In its Preamble, referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Convention No. 122 affirms that “everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment”. In addition, the Preamble highlights certain instruments of direct relevance to employment policy, including the Employment Service Convention, 1949 (No. 88) and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111). The Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), while providing for the regulation of private employment agencies and their coordination with public employment services, also provides for the protection of workers’ rights based on international labour standards.

To achieve the objective of full, productive and freely chosen employment set out in Convention No. 122, certain key steps must be taken. First, there must be a political commitment to ensure the right to work by realizing full employment. Secondly, Member States must build or strengthen the institutions necessary to ensure the best possible organization of the labour market. Third, States must take measures to support inclusive access to employment by supporting education and training as well as lifelong learning, to reduce skills mismatches and anticipate labour demands, particularly in a rapidly shifting world of work where the pace of change due to factors such as globalization, digitalization and technological innovations continues to accelerate. Against this backdrop, the Committee notes that the pandemic has caused seismic shifts by devastating certain sectors while increasing demand in others, highlighting the need for resilient and integrated systems that can adapt effectively and quickly in situations of crisis to reskill and upskill workers in order to enhance their employability and facilitate their redeployment to other occupations and sectors where demand is high.

The Committee observes that Convention No. 122, taken together with the body of interdependent and mutually supporting employment instruments referenced, provides a comprehensive framework for realizing the right to full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work, as well as to education and vocational training as a necessary condition for achieving this objective.

Education, vocational training and lifelong learning

The Human Resources Development Convention (No. 142) and Recommendation (No. 195), (1975) provide comprehensive guidance in this area. In particular, the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), calls on States to put in place comprehensive and coordinated policies and programmes of vocational guidance and training that are closely linked with employment, particularly through public employment services (Article 1(1)). Convention No. 142 reflects the notion of freely chosen employment, calling for countries to develop inclusive policies and programmes whose purpose is to “encourage and enable all persons, on an equal basis and without any discrimination whatsoever, to develop and use their capabilities for work in their own best interests and in accordance with their own aspirations, the needs of society being taken into account” (Article 1(5)).

The Human Resources Recommendation, 2004 (No. 195) recognizes in its Preamble that “education, training and lifelong learning contribute significantly to promoting the interests of individuals, enterprises, the economy and society as a whole, especially considering the critical challenge of attaining full employment, poverty eradication, social inclusion and sustained economic growth in the global economy”. Recommendation No. 195 calls for Members to take steps to facilitate access to lifelong learning, recognizing that education and training are critical to meet emerging skills needs for both workers and employers.

The Committee observes that access to education and training, as well as to job counselling and placement services, is particularly crucial for young women and men as a result of the crisis. Young persons are already disadvantaged in the labour markets of most countries, with unemployment rates in some countries that are more than twice as high as those of adult workers. To avoid a “lockdown” generation that may be affected by the current crisis for decades to come, youth employment policies and active labour market measures should be developed that, among other things, seek to ensure access to education, vocational training and skills development and to facilitate the transition from education and training to work.

In the context of the current crisis, the Committee observes that educational and training systems, as well as employment services, should assist workers who seek to use their transferable skills, upskill and re-skill to enable them to be redeployed to other suitable work. To ensure increased socio-economic resilience for future crises, the Committee stresses that employment impact assessments and the compilation and analysis of labour market information are essential tools that inform the development and implementation of evidence-based policies for the promotion of full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work.

The Committee welcomes the technical assistance provided by the Office in carrying out rapid employment impact assessments. It notes that the ILO Guidelines on Rapid Diagnostics for Assessing the Country Level Impact of COVID-19 on the Economy and Labour Market were applied in 47 countries covering all regions, to assist the tripartite constituents in the formulation of targeted policy recommendations for an employment-rich recovery, with a focus on hard-hit groups such as migrants, informal economy workers, women and youth. These guidelines promoted strong tripartite engagement in addressing the impact of the crisis on labour markets. In some cases, such assessments were carried out in cooperation with the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and regional financial institutions, such as the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Recommendation No. 205 recognises the need in crisis situations to assess and meet emerging skills needs, providing that States should formulate or adapt a national education, training, retraining and vocational guidance programme that assesses and responds to emerging skills needs for recovery, in consultation with education and training institutions and social partners. Recommendation No. 205 invites States to coordinate education, training and retraining services, including higher education, apprenticeship, vocational training and entrepreneurship training, so as to enable those whose education and training have been interrupted to access education and training (Paragraph 19(c)).

The ILO Centenary Declaration, 2019 affirms that in its human-centred approach to the future of work, the ILO must direct its efforts to, among other things, promoting the acquisition of skills, competencies and qualifications for all workers throughout their working lives, to address existing and anticipated skills gaps, ensure that education and training systems are responsive to labour market needs and enhance the ability of workers to access decent work opportunities (section II.A.(iii)). These objectives are more critical than ever to ensure a brighter future of work in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Promoting sustainable enterprises as drivers of productive employment and decent work

The Committee notes that the achievement of full, productive and freely chosen employment is not possible without establishing enabling environments for the creation and growth of sustainable and resilient enterprises. Recommendation No. 205 recognizes the importance of creating or restoring an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy, to generate employment, decent work and income generation opportunities (Paragraph 11 (c)).

The Committee welcomes in this respect the monitoring and collection by the ILO of key information resources available on the functioning of enterprises in the crisis, including its impact on enterprises, responses by enterprises and state policy measures to support affected enterprises. The Office has launched on-line dedicated products, tools and guidelines to assist enterprises in adjusting to the impact of the pandemic, including a site on COVID-19 Enterprises Resources and a SME Resilience COVID-19 section, which provide guidance on: COVID-19 impact assessment, informality in micro and small enterprises, business continuity, protection of workers, and inclusive finance, among others. A dedicated section on Business and COVID has also been created in the Helpdesk for multinational enterprises, including prevention and mitigation checklists for SMEs and guidance on teleworking.

The Job Creation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Recommendation, 1998 (No. 189), recognizes that small and medium-sized enterprises play a fundamental role in economic growth and development, are increasingly responsible for the creation of the majority of jobs throughout the world, and can help create an environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. Moreover, it recognizes that small and medium-sized enterprises provide the potential for women and other traditionally disadvantaged groups to gain access under better conditions to productive, sustainable and quality employment opportunities. It calls on governments to create an environment that is conducive to the growth and development of these enterprises and removes barriers to their functioning.

Subsequently, with the adoption of the Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193), the Conference also recognized the importance of cooperatives in job creation, which operate in all sectors of the economy, including in the informal economy. It calls on Members to take measures to support and strengthen cooperatives by providing a supportive policy and legal framework consistent with the nature and function of cooperatives and guided by cooperative values and principles (Paragraphs 3 and 6). The Committee notes that, in the context of the pandemic, cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy organizations around the world have been providing essential assistance to their members, connecting people in need of support with local governments and social partners. Financial cooperatives have provided liquidity support to their members, launching crowdfunding and other solidarity initiatives to support local micro, small, and medium enterprises as well as people in vulnerable situations. Many cooperatives have transformed their products and services to meet urgent local needs for protective equipment and social care. In the framework of ongoing development cooperation projects, the ILO has included the impact of COVID-19 in cooperatives needs assessments to better assess and address current and future needs. Direct financial and technical support is being provided to social and solidarity economy organizations (SSEOs) hit by the crisis. At the global level, the Office is documenting good practices of cooperatives and SSEOs in responding to the crisis, so that these examples can inform the development of response and recovery measures by ILO constituents.

The Committee further notes that Recommendation No. 205 calls on States to create incentives in crisis situations for multinational enterprises to cooperate with national enterprises to create productive, freely chosen employment and decent work, taking into account the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (Paragraph 11 (h)).

Non-discrimination and inclusivity

The Committee has previously emphasized the importance of developing and effectively implementing inclusive employment policies in times of crisis that provide for equality of opportunity and treatment as a priority and take the needs and concerns of those in vulnerable situations into consideration. In the context of the pandemic, the Committee notes that employment policies should provide for both integrated and targeted measures.

In this respect, the Committee observes that all response and recovery measures should be gender-responsive. Women have been affected significantly by the pandemic, suffering higher levels of job loss and unemployment rates overall. In addition, women are more likely than men to be in precarious, poorly remunerated informal jobs. On the other hand, women are concentrated in certain jobs and sectors at the front lines of the pandemic, for example, as supermarket workers or as care economy workers (such as doctors, nurses and other health care professionals and domestic workers). The Committee notes that not only are these workers at higher risk of exposure to the virus, during the pandemic they have been required to work excessive hours while also shouldering an increased burden of caring for children and elderly or ill family members.

These inequalities are compounded in situations of discrimination on multiple and intersecting grounds, which may include sex, race, colour, religion, disability, migrant status, sexual orientation, gender identity and other grounds. The Committee emphasizes that, where individuals belong to more than one disadvantaged group, multiple and intersectional discrimination compounds and exacerbates existing inequalities, affecting both health and economic outcomes.

Policy responses to the crisis need to take into account both multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and inequalities, including pervasive gender inequalities. For example, women belonging to minority groups have faced persistent inequality during the COVID-19 crisis, given the intersecting burdens they carry due to gender discrimination and inequality. Minority women are disproportionately represented in informal economy jobs, which are more vulnerable to disruption and fail to provide health coverage, unemployment benefits or paid sick leave.

The pandemic has also shown the importance of addressing stigma in addition to discrimination. The Committee notes that there have been instances of stigmatization of certain groups blamed for transmitting the virus, including migrants and frontline health workers. In the case of health workers, there have been incidents of stigmatization, violence and harassment during the pandemic, where they are seen as possible sources of infection due to the work they perform. Members of these groups are also more frequently subjected to violence and harassment. For these reasons, the Committee stresses the need to squarely address stigma and discrimination in developing and implementing crisis response and recovery measures.

In this regard, Recommendation No. 205 provides that “in taking measures on employment and decent work in response to crisis situations, Members should take into account the need to combat discrimination, prejudice and hatred on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction, social origin, disability, age or sexual orientation or any other grounds” (Paragraph 7(f)).

The Committee notes that in many countries the majority of the population is employed in the informal economy, where many disadvantaged groups are concentrated. While the Committee has recently examined the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204) in its General Survey, it nevertheless wishes in this General Observation to encourage States to refer to the guidance provided in Recommendation No. 204 in developing and implementing measures aimed not only at facilitating the transition to the formal economy, but also measures to prevent the informalization of formal economy jobs.

Tripartite consultation and social dialogue

The Committee recalls that tripartite consultation and social dialogue are essential in normal times and become even more critical in times of crisis (2010 General Survey, paragraph 794). Article 3 of Convention No. 122 requires ratifying States to consult with the social partners and with representatives of those affected by the measures to be taken. Recognition of the importance of consultation and social dialogue is a thread running through Convention No. 122 and its related Recommendations (Nos. 122 and 169), as well as through all of the employment instruments highlighted in this General Observation, which require Member States to engage in consultations with the social partners as well as with representatives of concerned groups (See also Part VII of the Addendum to the 2020 General Survey).

The Committee notes the concerns expressed in the observations by the employers’ and workers’ organizations that in many cases governments took urgent measures to mitigate the effects of the crisis through the development of employment policies without their participation. In this regard, the Committee notes that effective consultation and participatory social dialogue facilitates the design, development and implementation of agreed solutions that take into account the perspectives and concerns of the individuals and groups involved, and promotes greater ownership of and commitment to the outcomes of the participatory process. Recommendation No. 205 emphasizes the importance of social dialogue and tripartite consultation in response to crisis situations (Preamble, Paragraphs 8(d), 24 and 25). In particular, Paragraph 24 calls on Members to ensure that the response measures contemplated in the Recommendation are developed or promoted through gender-inclusive social dialogue, taking into account the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144).

Conclusions

The Committee notes that most countries, including those that have not ratified Convention No. 122, have adopted some form of employment plan, policy or strategy designed to promote employment and job creation. Nevertheless, the Committee notes a range of gaps and challenges identified in the reports of countries and the social partners that may limit the beneficial impact of these plans, policies and strategies during this pivotal period of crisis. It observes that many such policies do not address the needs of all segments of the population, particularly of those groups that encounter the most difficulties in accessing the labour market (women, young people, older workers, persons with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities and others). In this respect, the Committee notes that the information provided by ratifying States on the application of Convention No. 122, including in the context of the pandemic, has shown that taking an inclusive approach to responding to the crisis, based on reliable labour market data, has enabled them to develop effective targeted responses that take into account the different needs and concerns of workers, businesses and economic sectors.

Therefore, the Committee encourages governments and social partners in those countries to take the necessary measures to develop, declare and pursue, through a participatory social dialogue process, inclusive, gender-responsive and comprehensive employment policies that take account of the provisions of Convention No. 122 and of the body of employment instruments adopted. It recalls that constituents may avail themselves of ILO technical assistance in this respect.

The Committee also notes that a number of countries have adapted their existing employment policies specifically to address issues of concern arising during the pandemic, such as promoting the survival and sustainability of enterprises and livelihoods, job retention as well as job creation, education and training, particularly reskilling and upskilling. Governments are encouraged to ensure that these policies and their implementation take into account all segments of the population, particularly those made more vulnerable by the crisis, as well as the need to strengthen national institutions and international cooperation with a view to enhancing resilience and preparedness in the event of future crises, whatever form these may take.

The need to address the human dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic must be at the forefront of response and recovery measures. In this respect, the Committee recalls that the Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work adopted by the Conference in June 2019 calls for the ILO to carry forward into its second century with unrelenting vigour its constitutional mandate for social justice by further developing its human-centred approach to the future of work, putting workers’ rights and the needs, aspirations and rights of all people at the heart of economic, social and environmental policies (ILO Centenary Declaration, Part I. D). In adopting the Centenary Declaration, the tripartite constituents highlighted the transformative changes taking place in the world of work as well as the persistent inequalities that remain. They recognised that it is imperative to act with urgency to seize the opportunities and address the challenge to shape a fair, inclusive and secure future of work with full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work for all (ILO Centenary Declaration, Part I.). The Committee considers that responding to this clarion call is more critical than ever before in the context of the pandemic, which represents one of the most significant challenges yet faced by the ILO and its constituents. The human-centred approach is key to the success and sustainability of efforts made to overcome this crisis.

The Committee encourages constituents to ensure that all response and recovery measures developed and implemented are based on respect for human rights and the rule of law, including respect for fundamental principles and rights at work and international labour standards, comprising the fundamental and governance Conventions, as well as the technical Conventions. It requests governments to provide information on steps taken to ensure that measures taken in relation to promoting employment and decent work during and after the crisis are based on those principles and standards.

Finally, to enable the Committee to effectively assess the application of ratified Conventions, and also to enable the Office to facilitate the exchange of good practices, innovative and effective solutions, and lessons learned, the Committee invites constituents to continue to collect and communicate, together with their reports, detailed information on the inclusive, gender-responsive employment policies and active labour market measures adopted or envisaged in response to the pandemic and the socio-economic crisis left in its wake, which would impact on the application of Convention No. 122 and the additional employment instruments examined herein, particularly with respect to:

– new employment-related policies and programmes adopted taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 crisis;

– adaptations made to existing policies and programmes to promote employment and decent work;

– measures taken to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship and for enterprises of all sizes, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises;

– measures to promote cooperatives as sources of income and livelihoods for workers, especially those in the informal economy and those belonging to disadvantaged groups;

– the manner in which employment-related policies, programmes and measures ensure inclusivity and integrate the fundamental principle of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity and treatment, starting with gender equality;

– measures taken to establish or strengthen the national institutions necessary to ensure effective response and recovery, including the public employment service and private employment agencies, where these exist, as well as educational and vocational guidance and training institutions;

– examples of consultation and social dialogue in the development, implementation, monitoring and review of response and recovery measures;

– obstacles encountered and lessons learned in the development and effective implementation of crisis response and recovery measures.

The Committee considers that the development of a transformative agenda to achieve employment and decent work that is aligned with the human-centred approach adopted by the Conference in the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, 2019 and with the Sustainable Development Goals, and is based on fundamental principles and rights at work as well as international labour standards, is key to overcoming the devastating impacts of the pandemic. The Committee expresses the hope that the pursuit of this objective, guided by Convention No. 122 and related instruments, will transform the challenges faced worldwide today into opportunities for a brighter future of work.

End Note

1. 1 - The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, (No. 159) and its Recommendation, (No. 168), 1983; the Home Work Convention, (No. 177) and its Recommendation, (No. 184), 1996; the Employment Policy (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1984 (No. 169); the Employment Relationship Recommendation, 2006 (No. 198); and the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204).